Freshman Democrat Stephanie Murphy of Florida is already making a name for herself on trade, both during House Ways and Means Committee hearings and through leading an effort to restrict the administration's ability to levy tariffs on national security grounds without congressional approval.

2019 is shaping up to be another active year in terms of changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Like last year, a series of revisions were necessary in the first half of the year to implement Section 301 exemptions and an increase for $200 billion worth of the China tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent. Other major changes are related to the Generalized System of Preferences, and in particular the removal of India and Turkey from the program. In all, seven revisions were issued prior to the mid-year Revision 8, as follows:

Element Electronics, which assembles LCD TVs in Winnsboro, South Carolina, for sale through Walmart, Target and Costco, hasn’t “taken a position” on whether Section 301 tariffs should be slapped on finished TVs from China, General Counsel David Baer told a List 4 hearing June 17, according to a newly posted transcript. Baer spoke at the hearing to urge the removal from List 4 of the LCD panels and motherboards Element sources from China. Even when those goods weren't being considered for tariffs on List 1, Baer appeared at a May 2018 hearing to argue for finished TVs from China to be assessed 25 percent tariffs. Section 301 tariffs have “the potential to level the playing field for Element's U.S. work force and workers across America,” said Baer then. “Element supports the inclusion of finished TVs in the scope of the 301.” Baer said Element had an unfair disadvantage against competitors that imported finished TVs from China at 3.9 percent duties and sourced them from Mexico duty-free, versus the 4.5 percent tariffs it pays to import LCD modules from China. Baer didn’t respond to emails Tuesday seeking comment on why the company changed its position about tariffs on finished TVs from China. List 4 includes proposed tariffs on finished TVs, plus the LCD components Element sources from China.

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer said he thinks the House could be able to have a vote in the fall on the new NAFTA. Blumenauer, from Oregon and one of nine House Democrats who are tasked with negotiating changes to the deal with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, said he expects the group will meet with USTR "at least once a week." Speaking at a Washington International Trade Association event June 26, he joked that Lighthizer spends so much time meeting with House members and caucuses, "I think he travels the world just to get away from us." Lighthizer is on his way to Osaka, Japan, for the G-20 meeting. He met with the working group the afternoon before he left.

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said after a June 25 hearing on Mexican labor reform that the Democrats asking for changes to the NAFTA rewrite are asking for changes that are "relatively narrow." "Our hope is we can move with dispatch, get our concerns resolved, strengthen the agreement and move forward," he said, adding that trade deal votes "never get easy, putting them off."

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer said he thinks the House could be able to have a vote in the fall on the new NAFTA. Blumenauer, from Oregon and one of nine House Democrats who are tasked with negotiating changes to the deal with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, said he expects the group will meet with USTR "at least once a week." Speaking at a Washington International Trade Association event June 26, he joked that Lighthizer spends so much time meeting with House members and caucuses, "I think he travels the world just to get away from us." Lighthizer is on his way to Osaka, Japan, for the G-20 meeting. He met with the working group the afternoon before he left.

Democrats on the working group asking for changes to the new NAFTA say the first meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, on June 26, went well, and other Democrats on the left and center also expressed hope that Democrats are on the right path to get to ratification. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., who's specializing in environmental issues on the working group, said it was a "great meeting." Larson, a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, added, "We're not there yet, I think Lighthizer has the right attitude, and his sleeves rolled up, and we're laying out our concerns, and hopefully we're going to get to yes."

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said after a June 25 hearing on Mexican labor reform that the Democrats asking for changes to the NAFTA rewrite are asking for changes that are "relatively narrow." "Our hope is we can move with dispatch, get our concerns resolved, strengthen the agreement and move forward," he said, adding that trade deal votes "never get easy, putting them off."

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 10-14 in case they were missed.

IRobot CEO Colin Angle has firsthand knowledge of the intellectual property abuses Chinese companies engage in, he testified Monday on the opening day of Trump administration hearings on the proposed List 4 Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. But Angle asked the administration not to impose tariffs on the robotic goods it sources from China because his firm, which employs 700 in the U.S., is satisfied with China as a manufacturing platform.